Thursday, May 4, 2017

Mosul Campaign Day 199, May 3, 2017

The Iraqi forces (ISF) are still stuck in the Old City
district of west Mosul. The Rapid Reaction Division and Federal Police attacked
the Maidan
neighborhood. The police were said to have taken some streets in the Old
City. The Joint Operations Command also claimed that a new push was being
planned into the district. The ISF are always talking about a new offensive to
take the Old City however. That area was attacked in March, and little headway
has been made since then.

More civilian casualties were reported. The Islamic State
fired mortars
into west Mosul killing four and wounding 2. The insurgents executed another 20
who were attempting to flee and hung their bodies on poles to intimidate
others. There was another claim of a
chemical attack as well. Nearly every week there are similar stories, but they
are never confirmed.

Despite earlier denials, Ninewa officials have finally
admitted there is no plan to rebuild Mosul and Ninewa in general. When east
Mosul was liberated in January some residentsbegancomplaining
that they were getting little help from the authorities to rebuild. Ninewa
officials assured
them not only they, but Baghdad had a plan for reconstruction. Reuters
talked with the deputy chairman of the Ninewa council who revealed the
provincial government is still working on a five year agenda for rebuilding.
More importantly he told Reuters there is no money for whatever they come up
with. He complained that Baghdad had not given Ninewa adequate funds for its
overall budget, and didn’t expect more to be coming.

USA
Today talked with members of the Mosul Battalions, which was part of the
resistance movement inside the city. There were various groups carrying out
assassinations, shootings, bombings, and grafting for months before the Battle
for Mosul began. They probably killed and wounded hundreds of IS members in the
process. They also provided intelligence to the Iraqi forces. Despite that,
they were never able to present a serious challenge to the militants control of
the city. At the same time, it dispelled the myth prevalent within Iraq that
the population of Mosul were all supportive of the Islamic State.

Reuters
went to the Khazir displaced camp where people were struggling to support
themselves. It interviewed several residents. One man was a barber, another
fixed shoes. These odd jobs were about all they could find. The lack of
employment is one of the major reasons why people do not want to stay in these
camps. Unfortunately, when they leave and go back to their homes, there is
little in the way of jobs either.

About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. I have written for the Jamestown Foundation, Tom Ricks’ Best Defense at Foreign Policy and the Daily Beast, and was responsible for a chapter in the book Volatile Landscape: Iraq And Its Insurgent Movements. My work has been published in Iraq via NRT, AK News, Al-Mada, Sotaliraq, All Iraq News, and Ur News all in Iraq. I was interviewed on BBC Radio 5, Radio Sputnik, CCTV and TRT World News TV, and have appeared in CNN, the Christian Science Monitor, The National, Columbia Journalism Review, Mother Jones, PBS’ Frontline, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Institute for the Study of War, Radio Free Iraq, Rudaw, and others. I have also been cited in Iraq From war To A New Authoritarianism by Toby Dodge, Imagining the Nation Nationalism, Sectarianism and Socio-Political Conflict in Iraq by Harith al-Qarawee, ISIS Inside the Army of Terror by Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassahn, The Rise of the Islamic State by Patrick Cocburn, and others. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com